The Dune and Aquaman star is building something big with Warner Bros.
A Minecraft movie starring Jason Momoa is currently in the works at Warner Bros.
On Thursday, THR reported that Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess will direct a big-screen adaptation ofMinecraft. Jason Momoa of Dune and Aquaman fame will star in the film. As of right now, there are no other details about the film, so you’ll have to imagine Momoa smashing 8-bit blocks with a tiny pixelated pickaxe without any additional context.
According to THR’s report, Warner Bros. has been working on a Minecraft film for years, though the project has had a troubled development. Free Guy director Shawn Levy was attached to the movie at one point, though he could never get the studio to agree on a script. It’s understandable, though. Nobody knows what to do in sandbox games like Minecraft until thoroughly consulting wikis, right? It only makes sense a faithful movie would struggle with its direction too.
It’s rare that a lending company-albeit the largest in America-would be expected to make a huge splash in the Ad Meter rankings. They don’t sell beer, or candy, or chips, or soft drinks. And they aren’t releasing the next box-office hit. At the …
It’s rare that a lending company—albeit the largest in America—would be expected to make a huge splash in the Ad Meter rankings. They don’t sell beer, or candy, or chips, or soft drinks. And they aren’t releasing the next box-office hit. At the most, you’d expect them to cause a small ripple.
But, then again, when you have Aquaman…
Rocket Mortgage will forever remember Super Bowl LIV. The Detroit-based lending company was back in the Big Game-mania this year with a spot that featured actor Jason Momoa for their campaign, “Get Comfortable.” That alone seems like a story worth remembering, but it’s merely the gameplan and the not the final drive.
Out of the 60-plus ads and trailers that were submitted, the spot ended the night as the fifth highest-rated commercial in the Ad Meter rankings.
Fifth!
You can count the number of mortgage companies that have accomplished that ranking with a closed fist. The success teetered on the unbelievable, even for an experienced Super Bowl ad veteran like Quicken Loans CMO, Casey Hurbis, who Ad Meter caught up with to talk about the big night.
“When you’ve got a lot of brands there (on Ad Meter) that are habitually in the top 10,” Hurbis noted, “to be a mortgage company—a commodity-based company and brand—that’s in the top 5 is something to be super excited about.”
When we first spoke before Super Bowl Sunday, what the actual commercial would look like was still a close secret. Instead, the company and the star of the spot had released several teasers—which did incredibly well—and as the CMO explained, “lent itself to people wondering, ‘What does it really mean for Jason Momoa to be comfortable at home? What is that going to look like?'”
The anticipation would last until the first quarter of the Super Bowl when the final product aired—a sleight of hand that took a comedic one-eighty from the teasers.
It was an epic moment for the 75 Rocket Mortgage employees gathered at the office. “It was sixty seconds of dead silence, and then an eruption of cheers,” Hubris said in awe.
But this was also a busy night, as he pointed out:
“We were activating the Rocket Mortgage Super Bowl Squares, and about five minutes before the commercial ran, there was a score. And for the first time, we were like, ‘OK. We have to pull the name, and we have to announce it.’ Then the commercial ran, and we’re celebrating, and then there was a score shortly after that.”
“Mission Control” Photo courtesy of Quicken Loans
Zero rest isn’t uncommon on this type of night for brands. But the work and effort has been the exciting part of this particular journey for Rocket Mortgage—a “partnership”, as Hurbis describes it, and learning experience. As previously mentioned, he doesn’t always believe that Super Bowl spots should be released before the actual airtime. “You can argue the pros and cons of it,” he explained. “But what this showed us was by teasing it and doing fun, engaging, leaned-in content, you can build up a lot of that buzz and anticipation, and then you show America the spot for the first time.”
(The content is still making the rounds on social media, including these two photos of the—ahem—real Jason Momoa:)
Photo courtesy of kingmomoa (Instagram)Photo courtesy of kingmomoa (Instagram)
When the night finally ended all that was left were the restless hours until the Ad Meter rankings were released. “It was a late night—we didn’t wrap up until well after midnight,” Hurbis recalled. “But we woke up Sunday morning with smiles on our faces, and it’s been a great week!”
A great week, indeed, one that seems to be continuing.
“People are coming up to Jason and telling him how funny it was and how much they enjoyed the commercial,” Hubris said of Momoa—who reached out to the CMO Sunday night and shared in the joy of how well the spot turned out and has since continued to post behind-the-scenes footage.
“It’s humbling,” Hurbis also added, now having a few days to let the rush of it all settle. “We had a great campaign and a great partner to bring it life, and we’re excited that America affirmed that—the amount of positive sentiment we have is overwhelming.”
It was an impressive showing for Rocket Mortgage, the excitement of the commercial’s success resonated in each answer Hurbis gave. And rightfully so. But that doesn’t mean it’s one-and-done for him or the hard-working team. We ended the conversation by chatting about the future, the “Get Comfortable” campaign, and what it means for Rocket Mortgage.
Hurbis replied: “When you’re America’s largest lender, you’re right back to work and getting ready for the next exciting project.”
With the company’s success in this year’s Ad Meter, that type of forward brand momentum would be expected.
When it comes to creating a Super Bowl ad, it’s easy to throw out the generalized “Go Big or Go Home” analogy. It’s a big stage-arguably the biggest-and the amount of eyes locked onto the commercials has oftentimes been the top story from Super Bowl …
When it comes to creating a Super Bowl ad, it’s easy to throw out the generalized “Go Big or Go Home” analogy. It’s a big stage—arguably the biggest—and the amount of eyes locked onto the commercials has oftentimes been the top story from Super Bowl Sunday. (See: 2019). So, understandably, when creating a campaign, the idea of going big makes sense.
But when you’re Rocket Mortgage, the largest mortgage lender in America, and you get Jason Momoa, one of the largest actors (literally and in Hollywood star power) to be in your spot for this Sunday’s game…well, that provides an interesting update to the terminology.
The Detroit-based lending company is back in the Super Bowl ad lineup this year with a spot that ties into a new campaign called “Get Comfortable.” The concept, as Quicken Loans CMO Casey Hurbis explained to USA Today’s Ad Meter, is simple: “We want people to be as comfortable financing a home as they are living in it.”
How they accomplished creating the delivery of that message for the massive audience on Sunday is an interesting tale. It began over this past summer. The team started looking at different ideas, beginning the creative process, and one particular concept quickly rose to the top. And with that winning concept, there was one person who came to mind.
“It was with Jason!” Hurbis enthusiastically recalled, an exclamatory prompt associated with a no-brainer.
The exciting part of that revelation, however, was the feeling was mutual. Never one to shy away from the creative process, the feedback from the Hollywood star wasn’t just a yes, followed by a signature on the dotted line. Instead, the overall excitement for the campaign grew into a partnership. “He was part of the creative development with us,” Hurbis explained.
Understanding how the process goes for creating these commercials is never an exact science, but it doesn’t hurt to have someone experienced like Casey Hurbis. He’s been part of five Super Bowl campaigns, including Rocket Mortgage’s 2018 ad with Keegan Michael Key (that finished 11th in the Ad Meter Rankings that year). He took that propitious momentum and allowed it to flow into the “next” creative step for the company, and by December, production was set to shoot the 2020 Super Bowl commercial—which would be a first for the talented actor.
But would it be?
The answer to that is not as simple. Casey, who still holds true to “old school thought” as he puts it , doesn’t like to release the full spot until the night of the game. But within the tight timeframe of production and the small window to tell the story in the actual ad, came extra footage that might have never seen the light of day, cutting-room material. And in a social media-driven world that seemed like an opportunity—and it wasn’t missed.
Momoa liked the daily cuts so much, he deiced to start sending out funny tidbits on his social media. The engagement from his 14.6 million followers has grown mightily, well into the 10,000s. As Hurbis noted, “It showed just how great it’s been, this whole concept of ‘getting comfortable at home’—it’s a really fun and engaging way to show how Jason can be, away from the camera and expectations when he’s at home.”
And Jason Momoa, if the several teasers released by Rocket Mortgage are any small indication, is certainly fun at home.
“It was a hard sprint at the end,” admitted Hurbis. “But having the power of Jason and (Quicken Loan’s) brands together, just knowing the high level of content we did, we knew that having him doing his first commercial ever, we’d be able to build a lot of momentum around that. And we’re excited to bring not only the spot in the Super Bowl, but the campaign to life.”
Again, that feeling is mutual, as Jason Momoa added: “People are going to be blown away by the Super Bowl commercial. The creative was awesome, and we all worked together to make it hysterical. I got to poke fun at myself a bit, as did my wife, and we had a blast. The spot made us laugh, and it’s going to make America laugh too. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks.”
